Entrances, Exits and First Dance Blues

“My Best Friend’s Wedding,” Cameron Diaz and Dermot Mulroney make a stylish getaway
(Photo via YouTube)

Do you remember a time long, long ago (in the 1990′s) when it seemed like every wedding movie had a scene where the Bride and Groom would drive off in a car with a cute “Just Married” sign on their way to their honeymoon, while the wedding reception raged on into the early hours of the morning?  Sometimes the car would be decked out with bottles, tin cans, balloons, sometimes fireworks.  The exit was almost as important as the ‘I Do’s’.  And EVERYONE would gather outside the reception hall to escort them out to the car and bid them a rowdy farewell…. It felt like if you didn’t see them leave, you were missing out. On everything.

We are definitely not in Kansas anymore.

Nowadays, the happy couple are also the partying couple, seeing their ultimate bash through to the last song.  And for good reason – weddings have evolved into a party that puts New Year’s Eve to shame and just like a NYE party, it ain’t over until the last note dies off on the speakers and the house lights go up.  What has taken the place of the exit is the entrance; your first foray as ‘Mr and Mrs’ has become a production all of its own. How the wedding party enters the room has evolved into a sometimes crazy, always cool and much-watched event that tells us a lot about them and can set the tone for the rest of the night.   On rehearsal night, April and I hear snatches of conversation from the bridesmaids and groomsmen, and while they’re totally focused on the ceremony and making sure they are hitting all the marks for the day, plotting their entrances  for the reception that night is never far from their thoughts.  Come the day of the festivities, last minute ideas are floated around and as their names are called out by the emcee, they’re ready to make an impression! I’m tempted to say that the entrances are as planned out, if not more so, than the couple’s first dance.  But what we love is that there is an entrance option for every couple and their party, whether it’s superhero-themed music and dynamic poses all the way to the fake-out where one of our couples was a no-show at the entrance doors but they appeared on a balcony in the reception room above a crowd that cheered for them and got increasingly louder until they made their way downstairs almost two minutes later!  And one option that I think is amazing, for a couple who is maybe big on ideas but are shy in a big crowd,  is the pre-recorded video that enables the couple to act out a scenario or have a plot that keeps them on their toes that culminates in their grand entrance. Below is a great example of a video:

YouTube is a great source of inspiration or examples of just how much fun you can have with a pre-recorded video that leaves you free to walk in with no stress whatsoever, having set the stage with a video that was filmed prior to the wedding day madness where nerves could be combatted and you felt way more at ease.

Yesterday on The Social, the ladies were discussing the idea of the first dance and the conversation led to entrances, so I’ve included the link below as I found it interesting and timely considering how much emphasis we’re seeing on entrances over the last few years!

First Dance versus Entrance

Both the dance and the entrance can be fun and exciting andyet another chance to infuse a part of your personality and your own fingerprint on your ceremony.  The beauty of it is, there’s no wrong way to inject a dose of who you are into your big day – so why not have as much fun as you want?

Wishing you a day as limitless as you are~

Lisa and April